Weather induced panic part 2

[Fat Controller]

Very rough here in S E Kent overnight, such that it briefly stopped me sleeping. Local news reports lots of trees down; the most spectacular being one that blocked all three London-bound lanes of the M20 in the small hours. Now it's just very wet.

[Jack]

It was raining in our downstairs loo last night ... still, saves cleaning it

[roythebus]

Still tipping down here in New Romney. It sounds like the RHDR is still battling the elements with their Santa Specials!

 

I'm surprised I haven't heard any criticism of the non-availability of replacement coaches yet. Do they think roads are exempt from fallen trees or drivers booked off for the holidays, or perhaps even taking their coaches to the snowier climes of Austria? 

 

As it is most bus and coach operators are running flat out most of the time with little or no spare capacity to cover emergencies.

[Southernman46]

Mrs SM46 spent most of yesterday evening / night and this AM getting trees removed from the tracks in Wessex and doing it well - now she's shot off to Tesco's to finish the Xmas shopping...............feeling very useless and like I'm married to Superwoman

 

Oh well, better have another cup of coffee and see what Hatton's have in stock 

[Kris]

A First Great Western HST hit a tree yesterday evening in Somerset. Hours of delays for the travellers. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-25503338

[Oldddudders]

100kph/60mph winds were forecast here, and that's how it felt. Power went off about 0100, leaving the house to cool down, while the freezers started to warm up! Lit a fire at 0840, for the first time in ages, and that worked well for a warmer breakfast time. Power restored about 1100. No great damage done that I can see, but the decision to clad the south face of our new roof with old tiles in 2006 - for appearance's sake - may now be coming back to haunt me.

[roundhouse]

The front of our house looks OK but the for sale signs next door have disappeared again.

Unfortunately our security cameras can't check the roof which has only just been repaired after the storms back in October so just hoping that we still have a watertight roof. At least we have power.

 

There's been a landslide near Coulsdon South, cable fire at a East Croydon, trees down between Reading and Redhill, flooding at Balcombe tunnel so not much running train wise around Gatwick if any at all.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The storm force winds we've had here on the Cornish coast this evening have only just eased within the last 15 minutes. From the familiar roar and that sound of horizontal rain hammering my windows of the last 14 hours or so, its just gone eerily quiet!

We drove the Exeter - Launceston stretch of the A30 between 12.00 and 13.00 yesterday and it was - interesting. The shelter afforded by the bigger lumps of Dartmoor were rather handy. I do wonder how the wipers on a loco would have coped at any speed much over 40mph in these sustained conditions. When the river flowing off the roof got extreme the wipers wouldn't stay in contact with the glass.

[alfsboy]

Just spent a morning cobbling up emergency repairs to fences  to keep assorted dogs safe in their respective gardens.Quiet windy here  in Broadland  In fact worse than the great surge storm  ..Incidently the worst storm I ever drove through  in the UK was in the eighties in the fens .I saw a huge wall  of rain coming towards me and trees  flying horizontally across the road .Cambridge flooded too ,round the Backs  .Drove out from total darkness to bright sunshine   near Newmarket .No mention on the news or anywhere .

The dumbest thing I did was in the 60's  driving though  Belgium returning from Germany on a motorcycle  with my then girlfriend on the back .A huge storm hit us and I just kept going up the motor way to Ostend .i wondered why all the cars had stopped (chicken foreigners as  usual   LOL ) and it turned it was illegal to drive in such conditions .It turned out to be a typhoony type tornado thing that killed 50 people in France and Belgium .We made the ferry but as I couldnt dare rev too low on  the engine I had to charge up a steep ramp with a bulkhead straight ahead ..gulp..it actually started when we got to Dover .its was a BSA and of course if it had been bright sunny and cheery the Lucas electrics would have refused to start.

[The Stationmaster]

The front of our house looks OK but the for sale signs next door have disappeared again.

Unfortunately our security cameras can't check the roof which has only just been repaired after the storms back in October so just hoping that we still have a watertight roof. At least we have power.

 

There's been a landslide near Coulsdon South, cable fire at a East Croydon, trees down between Reading and Redhill, flooding at Balcombe tunnel so not much running train wise around Gatwick if any at all.

 

Hope the house is ok Ian. However the blockage of the Gatwick route has been something of a cloud with a silver lining because today our usual branch 2-car 165 has turned into a 3-car 166, compete with working aircon.

[Captain Kernow]

The winds in the South Hams last night were particularly vicious, much worse than what the Met Office web page for the SW forecast in terms of gusts. Even with good ear plugs in, the sound of the torrential rain hitting the bedroom windows horizontally around midnight was pretty loud. We lost one fence panel, which turned out to have been pretty rotten and just collapsed in on itself, although the strengthening bits I'd added in the last 12 months held out. Fortunately I was able to get some timber to patch it up this morning, with my neighbours help.

 

I just hope that everyone still travelling out there makes it to their destinations OK.

[Gary H]

Lots of this going on obviously!

We despatched this particular obstruction and handed it back line safe before our ETA on site despite a near half mile walk to get to it.

Its a shame the old bint on the local news at Plymouth station last night didn't have more of an insite into what goes on behind the scenes as she had a snipe making reference to "leaves on the line".

 

[Xerces Fobe2]

Has the weather got worse or is the country over the last 10 years or so or are we now just a bunch of risk averse wimpy jobsworths?

 

XF

[eastwestdivide]

Has the weather got worse or is the country over the last 10 years or so or are we now just a bunch of risk averse wimpy jobsworths?

 

XF

yes and yes respectively? They're not mutually exclusive!

[Gary H]

Has the weather got worse or is the country over the last 10 years or so or are we now just a bunch of risk averse wimpy jobsworths?

 

XF

I think we deffinately have more in the way of "extreme" weather, ie, when it rains, it really does rain!

As for jobsworths, I think the problem is now that every one has jumped on the "blame" wagon and to many folk want to sue every body else's backside!

For those reasons, no one will shoulder the risk!

[lmsforever]

Yes this year seems to have been one long weather event not normal,my aunt in Calgary says that the snow started there on Dec 2nd and hasn't stopped since lets hope it doesn't come awayanytime soon.  

[trisonic]

I dunno - Not one named Atlantic Hurricane this year.

Last year we had a snowstorm in November whilst our power was still cut off due to "Sandy". This year has been mild despite three falls of snow this month.

Count your blessings.

 

Best, Pete.

[jamie92208]

I've just watched the first 15 minutes of BBC News at ten all devoted to weather related items.   One shot was very interesting, it was from somewhere on the Clyde estuary with 25Kv overhead along the lines that run along the sea wall.  The waves appeared to be breaking right over the wires and insulators.  I do hope that someone had turned the power off otherwise there should have been some rther large blue flashes.

 

Jamie

[colin penfold]

Well thankfully the only natural disaster (afaik) to befall North Norfolk this time was the lid blowing off my recycling bin. Now I've got a bin half full of soggy cardboard.

 

Sadly not, due to the storms a part required to repair my gas boiler was not delivered from Preston to the local engineer, so I have a botched up boiler and fingers crossed all over Christmas.

[roythebus]

I got this note from a friend, Keith Castell (currently holidaying in Thailand), who tells us how it USED to be done:

 

 

"I remember one night coming back from the Club we failed at Ash Vale for traction.  As I was living in the Garrison Mess in Aldershot walking was a hell of a flog so I waited to see what would happen.  SW Control deployed the standby Electro-diesel from Woking and in due course it came to a stand as Ash Vale down home.  The signalman authorised a SPAD and it slowly rolled up to the VEP, exploding detonators as it came to be stopped by the guard's hand lamp before buffering on with its buckeye.  It was a clear moonlit night which made it all the more interesting.  All pipes connected the VEP driver then happily carried on to Aldershot with the ED purring quietly behind.  Happy days, now they would be deploying busses and make a frightful mess of it and the line out of action for days, health and safety you know!!"

 

Of course, had it been a 2-BIL that had failed, the same ED could have done the job, using the high level pipes and the screw coupler, but driven from the loco with the 2BIL driver operating the brake!
 

 

[Xerces Fobe2]

Good job trains are not running today as the Sun is out and the rails might buckle with the heat! LOL

[Gary H]

 

I got this note from a friend, Keith Castell (currently holidaying in Thailand), who tells us how it USED to be done:

 

 

"I remember one night coming back from the Club we failed at Ash Vale for traction.  As I was living in the Garrison Mess in Aldershot walking was a hell of a flog so I waited to see what would happen.  SW Control deployed the standby Electro-diesel from Woking and in due course it came to a stand as Ash Vale down home.  The signalman authorised a SPAD and it slowly rolled up to the VEP, exploding detonators as it came to be stopped by the guard's hand lamp before buffering on with its buckeye.  It was a clear moonlit night which made it all the more interesting.  All pipes connected the VEP driver then happily carried on to Aldershot with the ED purring quietly behind.  Happy days, now they would be deploying busses and make a frightful mess of it and the line out of action for days, health and safety you know!!"

 

Of course, had it been a 2-BIL that had failed, the same ED could have done the job, using the high level pipes and the screw coupler, but driven from the loco with the 2BIL driver operating the brake!

 

 

 

Indeed. (tongue in cheek) Now ofcourse we have in compatible trains with incompatible couplers, incompatible staff, incompatible rules, 20 different company's and we scrapped all the useful ED's!

[dmustu]

Even restricted to 50mph, hitting trees causes damage, I'd hate to think what would have happened if the railway had just carried on regardless, and run trains at full line speeds during the storm.

 

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1476103_10202078119027107_1307562184_n.jpg

 

 

https://twitter.com/TrainDriverIan/status/415484592129601536/photo/1

 

https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/415245564310085633/photo/1

[bingley hall]

Even restricted to 50mph, hitting trees causes damage, I'd hate to think what would have happened if the railway had just carried on regardless, and run trains at full line speeds during the storm.

 

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1476103_10202078119027107_1307562184_n.jpg

 

 

https://twitter.com/TrainDriverIan/status/415484592129601536/photo/1

 

https://twitter.com/Kent_999s/status/415245564310085633/photo/1

 

Should have kept running - what a bunch of risk averse wimps.   

[DavidLong]

Indeed. (tongue in cheek) Now ofcourse we have in compatible trains with incompatible couplers, incompatible staff, incompatible rules, 20 different company's and we scrapped all the useful ED's!

 

Still lots of useful EDs about. Indeed some are being given new, bigger engines to make them even more useful

 

David